Meeting with Nissan, Phoenix, Jan 8, 2013, 6pm, drinks prior

[Boomer23]

Phil, what's the function of the camera in the charge port door? Is it associated with the Around View Monitor? If so, how does it see the environment if the charge door is closed?

[mwalsh]

I suppose it's good that the engineers have been taking what we've said over the last two years to heart.

[brg2290]

Phil, just curious, why do you think the emergency brake change? Is the foot actuation mechanical...and less expensive? Was this a cost cutting measure? Or have there been problems with the original?

Also, thanks to all who attended and represented the Leaf ownership community. Your advocacy benefits us all, both in direct conversation with Nissan, and through the dissemination of info. here.

Gary

[rborba]

Thanks, Phil. Was there any word about these UI changes being propagated to 2011-2012 models as software upgrades? E.g., SOC%, forced 80% mode, climate temp for timer/remote. We can make some good use of that too!

Also, do you know if you can force a slower 3 kW charge when plugged to a 6+ kW EVSE? Would that have any effect on battery longevity?

Thanks again.

[DaveinOlyWA]

any word from the Chels on last night?
or efforts to get Nissan to fill in our questionnaire.
I am particularly interested in their fudge on the battery price issue. is there a date yet?
my birthday is at the end of March...that would be a nice gift.

Andy said sometime in the Spring, Mar./April.

Translation: The price is so high right now that you'd laugh at us if we told you...

for the 2012's? ya, you probably nailed that one. better to get rid of them first before revealing the price of the 2013's otherwise they wont sell.

[cwerdna]

Well, you guys are quick to dismiss without having heard a word. Yes, it is PR. That's your modern world. But, many of you may be interested to know that both of those speaking (Andy and Billy) personally drive a LEAF at home.
...

I think it's because of what we read at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 79#p257079" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; last night.

Great photos with descriptions. Thank you so much, Phil. I guess I don't need to go to San Francisco Saturday to see it. You photos save me a trip.

Another thank you to Phil for his great pics and descriptions. I'm glad he took pics and described some of the more interesting stuff on the '13.

The tow CHAdeMO generator + charger that Nissan brought looks almost identical to they brought to Alt Car Expo late last year.

Per http://sfbayleafs.org/event/sf-bayleafs ... y-meeting/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, the '13 Leaf will be shown in south SJ. That might be a tad better for you but I know it's not that close still. It's a GREAT location for me though.

[LEAFfan]

Phil, did you notice that the J receptical looked different? Another person and I thought it looked like it had heftier pins to handle the 30A charging.

[Stoaty]

Any word on whether Nissan is using more accurate instrumentation to keep track of energy stored in battery pack (since they were blaming the instruments for part of the reported battery capacity loss in hot climates)?

[leafkabob]

Any word on whether Nissan is using more accurate instrumentation to keep track of energy stored in battery pack (since they were blaming the instruments for part of the reported battery capacity loss in hot climates)?

Aside from Andy's statements that they have tightened up the accuracy of the capacity bars in the 2013 version, and that they will correct the sloppiness in the earlier versions via a software update in the "spring," I don't recall anything else. As Volusiano reported, Andy said that they made the bars in the 2011/2012 read conservatively so that no one would ever have less capacity than the bars stated. Or stated another way, although my 10 bar car should be at approx. 79% per the 2011 version 1 manual, according to Andy, I haven't really lost that much capacity. (My car went 69 miles in the Phoenix Range Test in September. Assuming a new car would go 84 miles, my range was 82% of that.)

[leafkabob]

I expected the video of the meeting to be posted by this morning. Since it hasn't been, I'm guessing that the lawyers are having some heartburn about posting it unedited. So in the absence of the video, and at the risk of having my faulty memory exposed if the video is later posted, I offer the following:
My overall sense of the meeting is that most of the audience was primarily interested in the battery degradation problem and in the end weren't satisfied with what they heard. At least a couple of people reported being at 8 bars and were very concerned about their range. Other folks had more bars but were equally concerned about their range.

My take on the meeting is that:
1. Nissan thinks it has solved the battery issue by coming out with this warranty.
2. Nissan has no intention (at this point at least) of going to a fluid cooling system for the battery. When more than one person suggested that such a system would solve the problem, Andy was pretty clear in stating that "there are many ways to dissipate heat, and fluid is only one of them." He really doesn't think it is the way to go. He also said they have no "Dubai Leaf," or any plans for a "desert version."

I think that Nissan really has no solution to the battery problem, isn't really interested in the AZ/hot climate market, and thinks that hot climate folks should be happy to have a leaf last 6-7 years (this assumes a one-time bump during the warranty period, followed by a drop back down to 8-9 bars by year 6 or 7.

Anyway, in my opinion the frustration/disappointment on the audience's part was palpable.

In spite of all of that, I was encouraged by the meeting. I believe Andy is sincere and felt he was honest with his responses. It would have been pretty easy to avoid coming to Phoenix or to have someone else do it instead. Billy and Jeff also struck me as sincere and genuinely interested in resolving our issues. Unfortunately I just don't think they really get what our issue is.